After returning from work he went shopping with Qasim and Mukhtar Thakur. Mukhtar knew the markets in the surrounding areas very well. They went to Manish Market first where Asrar bought clothes, electrical appliances and chocolates.

From there they proceeded to the Crawford Market on foot but there was nothing which Asrar needed or wanted to buy. Then they went to Abdul Rehman Street to buy pistachios and almonds. They kept walking through Zaveri Bazaar after that. They stopped to drink tea at a makeshift shop and started conversing. Mukhtar showed him the area where a bomb blast had happened a year back. Asrar asked a lot of questions about it. Mukhtar answered as much as he could and suggested that Saleem and Mohammad Ali were the best people when it came to information about these things. Asrar had a lot of questions in his heart, and he wanted to find answers to them. He kept the empty cup aside and looked at the shop in front of which the bomb had exploded. In a while, they boarded a bus from there and went to Kalbadevi. He bought a beautiful flower vase from a shop in Kalbadevi for Jamila Miss. While showing him around, Thakur took him to Mumba Devi’s temple and asked, ‘Do you know whose temple this is?’

There was a gate on the main road which opened into the temple’s courtyard. An idol of Mumba Devi was at the gate. On the opposite side of the road was a gulmohar tree. There were shops selling garlands and other temple and prayer essentials near the gate. Thakur told Asrar and Qasim a few stories about Mumba Devi. Asrar expressed his desire to enter the temple and see it for himself. Qasim said that he would wait outside while the other two went in to take a look. Maybe he wanted to have mawa. Asrar and Thakur entered the temple. It was old-fashioned, with four saffron flags. Asrar was amazed to see Mumba Devi’s idol. The face of the Devi showed anger and ferociousness. Her eyes were wide in anger. Asrar was reminded of the ‘Ek Veera Devi’ temple near the shore in Mabadmorpho. He had gone inside that temple with his friends a couple of times. The deity was worshipped by the Kolis. Her face reflected motherhood, love, serenity and seriousness. Her idol did not instil fear in one’s heart, as Mumba Devi’s face did.